Is Google Glass Obsolete?

Google Glass costs too much and lacks killer apps -- and new technologies will soon make the original version seem wimpy. That's not bad news for Google.

Google Glass might be one of the most ballyhooed inventions to hit the consumer electronics space, but it still seems to be a solution looking for a home, or perhaps just an almost-ready product. I suspect that was Google's intent. Rather than making a full-blown commitment and big roll-out, Google eased Glass into the market with limited access and a high price.

That's always the way with bleeding-edge technology. To succeed, electronic glasses need more than Glass is able to deliver. Obvious shortfalls include: a screen too small to display traditional images, a text orientation, weak voice recognition, and the ability to play video without providing screens over both eyes.

One could argue that these choices are partly technical, and partly driven by a desire for business applications as opposed to entertainment, but the line between business and entertainment use is blurred and likely soon to disappear.

Technology is moving right along, stimulated perhaps by Google's pioneering and its stamp of approval of the approach. We are seeing stereo high-resolution glasses and products targeting niche markets, and it seems fair to say that e-glasses capable of all that a phone can do, but in optical stereo, is close.

These will find a ready market if they are reasonably priced. The commuter will find them far more useful than a screen for watching movies, for instance, and this alone creates a viable market worldwide. Pair them with a remote control capability built on the user's phone (sort of like Chromecast) and browsing is easy, too.

(Source: Wikipedia)

With vendors going the next step -- and that's a when-not-if thing in my opinion -- we'll have 3D capability in those glasses, and we are now in the realm of 3D games. It will add some new zest to Angry Birds. And of course links to all the gaming consoles will just extend that.

The new high-resolution 3D devices will flow into commercial applications, too, from artistic design to remote or robotic surgery. Again, we can see killer apps. The advent of cheap heads-up displays will profoundly change the way we do things, with interactions with sensors in the Internet of Things impinging on everything we do. Imagine being able to leave an electronic note to tell the UPS man what to do with a delivery, and guiding him on his e-glasses to where to stow the package.

Does voice recognition still matter? There are applications and games where it is probably key to good operation, but no one wants to be continuously mumbling, "Next, next," when looking through a list of movies to watch. The answer in general is "yes" because there are applications where voice recognition adds value, but it's not a killer feature -- yet. That said, examples of voice searches with e-glasses to enhance shopping or tourism, find places, or get background information, spring easily to mind.

None of the offerings yet cover all the bases, but Google's patchwork of initiatives, including Chromecast, voice searching, and Glass, as well as its dominance via Android, are starting to look a lot more coherent. The Lego pieces are clicking together.

We can expect an integrated consumer experience from TV to tablet to phone to e-glass. Content will be easier to find, fed from a set of quality app stores like Google Play, and we will use voice or finger-swiping to get there.

I expect that deep in Google's Advanced Planning department, they are looking at how to handle all those Internet of Things sensors and put them into context with the rest of the electronics constellation. I, for one, will rejoice when I hear about the first person who says, "My e-glasses told me to go to the emergency room and prevented a heart attack." We live in interesting times.

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An Indy 500 driver who wants to know the temperature of his tires but doesn't want to stop to get out and touch them might find Google Glass displaying info. from a sensor quite helpful. Ditto for someone trying to get to a meeting at a new address. With voice commands, the map continues to unfold as needed. Or a manufacturing manager, trying to keep his eye on 12 gauges at once, would be happy to have them flash in succession through his Google Glass screen. There are countless applications for a device like Google Glass. We are just starting to reach the point where they can become practical.

I don't think there will be one killer app. There will be several really good apps for vertical markets -- and that will bring about a sizable amount of change for Google and its app developers. The military, healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics/inventory control are ideal for a tool like Glass. I still don't see them as a huge consumer success outside the tech-gee-whiz areas, but that's all right.

Prior to the release of the MyGlass app for iOS which finally enabled navigation and messaging with the iPhone, there were often articles written about how iPhone users were missing Google Glass's killer features.

Why move to a new platform for texting? Mainly because Glass is hands-free and faster. Reading a message in less than two seconds and replying in less than five seconds is easy with Glass, and on top of that you can do it with your hands full. You can even do it eyes-free once you memorize the voice command "ok glass, send a message to..." It's awesome, definitely one of the two killer features.

I think Google's plan has been fairly straightforward: field-testing and data gathering. I expect that future iterations of Glass will be tailored to particular applications rather than the general-purpose, head-mounted Android device that Glass is today. Menu navigation, even with Google's simplified timeline metaphor, is too complicated and time consuming for a device that needs to respond more or less instantly.

The definition of obsolete is that it is no longer used or is replaced by something newer. Glass usage is growing as the Explorer program expands, and version 2 of the Explorer Edition is only a few months old.

No killer apps?

Glass isn't even out yet, but it comes with two killer apps out of the box, texting and navigation. Much has been written about these two apps and the experience is a huge improvement over existing platforms. Also, it is a bit silly to write about a lack of apps before a product is even released. One of the main reasons for the Explorer program is to give developers early access so that apps are ready to go when Glass is released to consumers.

I think Google wants to stay in hardware, at least where they can get into nascent technologies. The Motorola thing was all about IP, and they've kept rights to access that in the divestiture. Phones are not an emerging market, which is why that isn't an interesting business for Google to be in.

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